Big Explosion at Iranian Nuke Facility?

The rumors are starting to percolate about a large explosion at one of Iran's largest nuclear facilities.

What are we to make about reports from Israel that Iran's top secret Fordow nuclear facility has been hit by a massive underground explosion that has caused severe damage to the uranium enrichment programme and trapped 240 workers inside?

Claims that the explosion happened last Monday - just as Israelis were digesting the results of the general election – appeared on the Right-wing news website WND last Friday. But three days later the normally garrulous Israelis have gone strangely quiet, while there has likewise been no official comment from Iran.

The Fordow facility is, of course, a vital part of Iran's nuclear weapons programme. Constructed some 300 feet under a mountain, the complex is immune from attack by even the most sophisticated bunker buster bombs. And it is here that Iran is undertaking some of its most sensitive nuclear research, where an estimated 2,700 centrifuges are enriching uranium to 20 percent – just short of the level required to build a nuclear warhead.

It could be that the Iranians have deliberately leaked news of the explosion to prevent officials from the International Atomic Energy Agency from making one of their routine inspections. On the other hand the Israelis, who have never officially admitted responsibility for assassinating a number of Iranian nuclear scientists, may think it prudent to keep quiet about any involvement they might have had in the explosion for fear of provoking retaliation from Tehran.

Here;  http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/news/concoughlin/100200345/is-irans-mystery-nuclear-explosion-too-good-to-be-true/

And now I just recieved Joel Rosenberg's email talking about the same rumor.

(Washington, D.C., January 28, 2012) -- Last week, Reza Kahlili --a former Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps officer who became a double-agent for the CIA -- reported on a major explosion at a key Iranian nuclear facility.

"An explosion deep within Iran's Fordow nuclear facility has destroyed much of the installation and trapped about 240 personnel deep underground, according to a former intelligence officer of the Islamic regime," Kahlili wrote. "The previously secret nuclear site has become a center for Iran's nuclear activity because of the 2,700 centrifuges enriching uranium to the 20-percent level. A further enrichment to weapons grade would take only weeks, experts say….The blast shook facilities within a radius of three miles. Security forces have enforced a no-traffic radius of 15 miles, and the Tehran-Qom highway was shut down for several hours after the blast, the source said. As of Wednesday afternoon, rescue workers had failed to reach the trapped personnel."
Did it happen, or didn't? There is a lot of controversy and mystery swirling around the story. The Iranians flatly deny it. Israeli intelligence and security officials say it did happen.

Holy secret explosion!!  We will have to watch and see how this unfolds.  For now of course we can file it under our "wars and rumors of war" file.